


Some Things You Never Forget

by griffinskane



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Kabby, Minor Character Death, One Shot, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-24
Updated: 2015-11-24
Packaged: 2018-05-03 06:30:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5280263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/griffinskane/pseuds/griffinskane
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>'28 days for the moon to orbit the Earth.<br/>28 years for their love story to come full circle... all coming down to this. '<br/>Marcus has a surprise for Abby which causes them both to reflect on the events of their past.<br/>Fluffy one shot.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Some Things You Never Forget

**Author's Note:**

> I'm terribly sorry this isn't the most Christmassy fic but I added a bit of snow in there for good measure :P

**2122**

 

Marcus is seventeen years old when he stops believing that one day will step foot on Earth: that he will breathe in fresh air, hear the blustering of the wind, feel the snowflakes as they dance on his skin... He has spent his entire childhood dreaming of such wonders, read every novel he can find, watched old films religiously with his best friend, Abigail, taking in every landscape, every detail. Over and over. It's never enough.

 

Abby has been fascinated by butterflies for as long as Marcus can remember. She is in awe of the gracefulness with which they flutter their wings, the way they can protect themselves from their predators, their majestic beauty. Marcus believes that she shares these same qualities herself and he has learned to love them too, which is why on her seventeenth birthday he surprises her by hanging hundreds of paper butterflies from the ceiling above her bed. He has been trading his own possessions in exchange for coloured paper for months now, folding each crease delicately so that they are as perfect as she is.

 

“ _You_ did this? For _me_?”

 

So overwhelmed by this grand gesture, she shows her gratitude in a way that neither have ever explored before. A soft kiss on the lips deepens and hands begin to wander. They have never acknowledged themselves out loud as anything more than friends but words aren't necessary. There has always been _something_ between them. They've always known.

 

“Are you sure?” he asks.

 

“I've never been more sure of anything,” she smiles.

 

She has wanted this for so long, they both have, and it's not long before they find themselves tangled in sheets, hopes and dreams.

 

. . .

 

But a day later, and the fairy tale comes to an end.

 

His father is dead. His father who would whisper old adventure tales from Earth in his ear as he drifted off to sleep. His father who would discuss theories about how Earth may have changed in the last seventy years. His father whose obsessive fascination with Earth was so strong, he stole a spaceship which was old and decrepit and never stood a chance. It explodes almost instantly on launch, shattering Isaac Kane into dust; his dreams and his son's dreams with it.

 

From that moment on, Marcus Kane makes a promise to himself that he will never yearn for Earth again. Dreaming will only cause him pain. He must face reality. The reality that his is only a transitional generation. A generation that will never see the ground. His life and everybody else's lives count for nothing. They do not exist for anything other than to prolong the existence of the human race for as long as possible. Everything, all of it, is _meaningless_.

 

So he shuts the world out. He shuts Abby out and she cannot understand how the person she loves has become so _cold_. So _indifferent_. It is as if he has become disconnected from all emotion, a shadow of the boy she used to know. She tries. She tries so hard to get through to him, to find the Marcus she once knew. But he is nowhere to be found.

 

And one day she finally _gives up_...

 

**2150**

 

Yet here they are 28 years later. 28 years of confusion. 28 years of bitterness, resentment and frosty exchanges. 28 years of blurred lines between love and hate. It all seems to have somehow melted away now that they are finally home. On Earth. The place they could only dream about from their spaceship in the sky. It's everything Abby ever imagined and more.

 

But Clarke has gone, which is why she is sitting at her desk with her head in her hands in the late hours of the cold winter's night. She is consumed with worry, reflecting on the last words she said to her daughter. Were they the same ones she would have chosen if she had a second chance? Lost in her thoughts, she fails to notice Marcus entering the medical wing. The gentle knock at the door snaps her back into the present.

 

“Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you,” he apologizes, sensing that he has chosen the wrong moment. 

 

He knew she would be here. These days she hasn't been sleeping. She always denies it but the fine lines and dark circles around her eyes reveal the secrets that she so desperately tries to hide.

 

Slowly straightening her spine, Abby looks up at the man with whom she shares so much history and finds that his presence brings her a sense of relief. She would never admit it out loud but she is drowning and as cliched as it may sound, he is a breath of fresh air amongst all the chaos. She cannot for the life of her remember how or when she began to feel this way about him again and she can't even decide whether she  _ wants _ to feel this way about him. But the funny thing is that, despite once being confined together in a metal Ark in the sky, she's even more at his orbit here in this infinite space they call Earth. There's no escaping him.

 

“No, you didn't. I was just...”

 

Her voice fades into silence and Marcus finishes her sentence for her, “Thinking about Clarke.”

 

She sighs, nodding her head.

 

He continues, “Clarke is strong. Just like her mother. She'll be okay.”

 

A moment of sheer silence passes but it isn't an uncomfortable silence. They are caught in a mutual gaze. She loses herself in his eyes only to find herself at home, where nothing can harm her and the world feels a little less lonely.

 

“I know it's late but there is somewhere I'd really like to show you, if you'll let me,” he says.

 

She furrows her brow skeptically and he is expecting her to protest but instead the expression on her face softens. “Okay,” she replies, simply.

 

. . .

 

They walk through the forest in silence, nothing to be heard but the hooting of the owls and the crunch of crisp white snow beneath their feet. _Real_ snow. Winter is so much more beautiful than it appeared in faded photographs and  grainy films. But Abby stopped paying attention to the scenery a while ago. Where is he taking her? The endless realm of possibilities spins around her head. Her thoughts are interrupted as Marcus stops abruptly and turns to face her.

 

“Close your eyes.”

 

She fixes her gaze onto his, as if she is wondering whether she can trust him or not, but eventually gives in. Her cold hand sinks into his own as he reaches out to guide her to their destination. His other hand wraps around her waist and a rush of heat permeates her body. She feels like a nervous seventeen year old all over again. 

 

It seems like only seconds have passed and his hot breath in her ear sends shivers down her spine as he whispers, “Happy Birthday, Abby.”

 

Upon opening her eyes, she finds she is surrounded by butterflies. They glow effervescently, changing colour as they flutter through the black of the night. Speechless for a moment, Abby finally catches her breath and acknowledges the words Marcus has just said. Her gaze immediately averts towards him, eyes widening, “How did you know it was my birthday?”

 

“Some things you never forget.”

 

Her glance briefly drops down to their hands, still clasped, before focusing on the stunning creatures once more. “They're beautiful, Marcus. The ones you made me were incredible but this...”

 

Her voice trails off as struggles to find the words to describe the sight before her.

 

“I didn't know if you'd remember,” Marcus murmurs under his breath.

 

Abby blushes and repeats his own words, smirking, “Some things you never forget.”

 

His heart skips a beat and he pauses, reminiscing on that night and every mistake he has made since... “I should never have let you go.”

 

The words fall out of his mouth before he even knows he is saying them. His entire body is frozen, aware that he has crossed a line that cannot be uncrossed. But to his surprise, her grip on his hand tightens and when he finally gains the courage to face Abby, he finds that she is staring back at him, mouth open in awe. She slowly edges closer to him until they are face to face. His eyes flicker briefly at the touch of her hand against his cheek.

 

They will forever be caught in each other's orbit. He is the moon: strong, pure and understanding. She is the Earth: grounded, giving, nurturing.

 

28 days for the moon to orbit the Earth.

28 years for their love story to come full circle... all coming down to this.

 

The pull of gravity brings their bodies together as their warm and tender lips brush and his fingers become tangled in her hair...

And he drinks her in as the _snowflakes dance on his skin._

**Author's Note:**

> I'm 98.9999% sure that Abby and Marcus MUST have a backstory and since we don't know what it is yet, I decided I'd try to fill in the gaps by writing my own version of events. Sorry, I know that the butterfly idea has been used in a few fics already but I thought I would put my own twist on the idea. I hope you enjoyed it. Please let me know what you think.
> 
> Happy Holidays!  
> Lots of Kabby love,  
> Emily (Tumblr: griffinskane) x x x


End file.
